Why I won’t buy store brand baby formula

I’ll admit I was a little bit naive when it came to planning for the birth of my first son. I was going to breastfeed because it was the best thing I could do for him…and it would save me a couple thousand dollars that would otherwise be spent on formula and bottles. It never occurred to me that the method of feeding was more than just a simple decision I had to make, and I might not be able to breastfeed. But as it turned out, between a health condition on my part and protein sensitivities on my baby’s part, we just couldn’t do it and the cost of formula feeding soon reared its ugly head.

Formula is the single most expensive baby item that we have had to purchase on a regular basis. A 25.7-ounce can of the “regular” brand name powdered baby formula that we tried first cost about $25.00. My son couldn’t digest the regular stuff, so we soon found ourselves purchasing the slightly more expensive “gentle” formula (about $25.00 for 24 ounces). Trying to find ways to make formula more affordable and put our monthly budget back into the black, I researched generic (or store brand) baby formulas (read more about affording baby formula here). After reading information from doctors, moms and formula companies, I was comfortable trying generic formula, which would cost significantly less.

The FDA has implemented strict guidelines for baby formula manufacturers. There are numerous nutritional requirements that any baby formula must meet. That means that, nutritionally, the $15 store brand formula is no different from the $25 can of brand-name powder. Why the vast difference in price? Just like with other generic products, the companies that manufacture store brands do not spend the extra money on groundbreaking research, expensive marketing campaigns, hospital and doctors’ office freebies, and fancy packaging. Most of the store brands you’ll find on the shelves, including Parent’s Choice at Walmart, Simply Right (formerly Member’s Mark) at Sam’s Club, Up & Up at Target, and Babies R Us are all manufactured by the same company, Perrigo Nutritionals (formerly PBM Products).

My son was doing well on the brand-name gentle formula and I thought that, all things being equal, it made sense to switch to the store brand in order to save almost $10 per can. You’ll notice that the store brands offer a variety of different formulas to match up with the offerings from Similac and Enfamil, even copying the colors that the well-known companies use for their packaging. They tout their products as being identical to the more expensive brands, showing side-by-side the same quantities of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. They make a pretty convincing argument that it’s just plain silly to spend extra money when you don’t need to — I saw magazine ads that said “The only difference is the price”. What was I waiting for?

I picked up a purple can of store-brand powder hoping my son would be able to tolerate it. I noticed right away that it wasn’t the same as the Enfamil Gentlease I had been buying. It had a different consistency, a deeper color, and a different smell. But I knew that nutritionally it was the same, so I carried on.

My baby’s negative reaction to the new formula was immediate and severe enough that I threw away half a can of the store brand powder, never to try it again. While he was able to tolerate the brand-name gentle formula, his colicky symptoms returned with the store brand. Worst of all, he became severely constipated on the new formula. My baby was in a tremdous amount of pain and even bleeding just because I had switched his formula. I was absolutely horrified that I had caused my child to suffer in order to save some money.

But why hadn’t he been able to tolerate the store brand? Wasn’t it exactly the same as the more expensive formula? That’s what I was told! I decided to take a closer look. I set the two cans side by side, and reviewed the Nutrition Facts. Yep, they were the same. Then, I looked at the ingredients. NOT the same. The store brand uses “Nonfat Milk” as its second ingredient and “Whey Protein Hydrosolate” fourth. Enfamil Gentlease has “Partially Hydrolyzed Nonfat Milk and Whey Protein Concentrate Solids (Soy)” listed second. It would appear that in the Enfamil, both the milk and whey proteins are broken down (hydrolyzed), while in the store brand only the whey (hydrosolate) is made easier to digest. Breaking down these proteins, which some sensitive babies have difficulty digesting, is what makes a formula “gentle”.

Store brands such as Parents Choice advertise that their Gentle Formula contains 1/4 the lactose of regular formulas, while Enfamil advertises that Gentlease has about 1/5 the amount. That can make a world of difference for lactose-sensitive babies. The two brands also differed in the amounts and types of fillers that are used, which definitely explained the difference in appearance, and could explain the severe constipation my baby experienced.

While I do think that brand-name formula is unecessarily expensive, the additional research funded by the company seems to have helped produce a better, gentler product for my baby. I believe it is wrong for retailers to mislead parents by marketing their store brands as identical to the name brands except for the price. Identical Nutrition Facts are not the same as identical ingredients; I could drink a breakfast shake with the same nutritional content as a meal, but that doesn’t make it the same.

I’m not trying to scare parents away from generics entirely, but as with any product, be sure to do your research and be on the lookout for adverse reactions. If your baby has no digestive problems, you may be able to offer generic formula without ill results, and save a lot of money in doing so. If you are feeding your baby a gentle formula due to digestive problems, however, I would proceed with caution. Keep in mind that generic and brand name formulas are different products, and focus on finding the one that works best for your baby.

Why I won’t buy store brand formula ever again

My son reacted to generic formula in a way that other babies might not. Many parents use store brand formula with no problem whatsoever. I am not here to tell you that store brand formula is dangerous, unhealthy, or anything else. But I personally will never try using it again, and here’s why:

I felt betrayed by the misleading advertising and will not help fund more of the same. At the end of the day, generic formula companies are out to make money just like the big guys.

A happy, healthy, comfortable baby is more important than saving money.

Formula feeding is not ideal, but some of us have to do it. I would rather support companies that conduct research to produce the best possible imitation of breastmilk, not imitation of other formulas.

NOTE: Some readers have been confused about my “flagging” of suspicious comments. I do not flag comments simply because they are negative or disagree with my point of view. I have caught companies sending employees or representatives to my blog posing as regular consumers in order to do damage control or spread good reviews. I have zero tolerance for companies tricking my readers with fake comments that promote their business or otherwise try to undermine my work on this website. I leave the comments in place, but “flag” them, so my real readers can see the tactics they use. If you are affiliated with a company that I write about, feel free to comment, even if you disagree. But you MUST disclose your relationship, just as I do with every product or company that I discuss.

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is the founder, designer and author of Jen Spends Less.
Formerly an architectural drafter and designer, Jen cut her spending and embraced a frugal lifestyle to be a stay at home mom.
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40 Comments

Hi Jen, my wife and I have actually had great luck with store brand baby formula at Walmart, Parent’s Choice Infant Formula. This formula is backed by scientific trials and saved me more than $700 for each of our twin sons, which totaled close to $1400 for that trying first year. If you use infant formula, you are not improving your baby’s health because you buy the more expensive formulas. You are simply wasting the extra money, because no FDA approved infant formula has been proven to be superior to any other FDA approved infant formula. Some mothers like my wife feel guilty because they cannot breastfeed, so they buy the more expensive formulas to compensate and are being mislead into overpaying by the brand formulas who play on this guilt. That’s my opinion anyway, but we found a formula savings calculator at the Parent’s Choice site at http://www.parentschoiceformula.com and realized we could save a great deal without missing out on the nutrition. Thanks for sharing – some children react to some formulas differently and that’s the bottom line. Good luck!

This comment has been flagged as “suspicious”. I have reason to believe this commenter is affiliated with PBM Products and/or Parent’s Choice Formula.

I know that many parents are able to use generics without a problem, and I don’t want to discourage that. I just wanted to emphasize that there are differences between the formulas, and therefore certain recipes (like the generic gentle formula) may be unsuitable for some babies, like my son. The advertising is misleading, in my opinion, and I think many parents believe that the generics are identical to the name brands. The slight differences probably won’t matter to most babies, but for some they can cause a problem.

Infant formula advertising is very misleading. For example, I’ve noticed that Similac claims that store brands don’t have the same science, which is somewhat misleading. I assume this is true because a store brand company and Similac would have different science, meaning different clinical papers, etc., but it implies that store brands do not have science behind the formulas, which is not true as FDA has the same formal requirements for all formulas. I also read that the makers of Enfamil are being sued over alleged false advertising for the third time, which is also strange. What a wild industry – I wish we could have breast fed!

This comment has been flagged as “suspicious”. I have reason to believe this commenter is affiliated with PBM Products and/or Parent’s Choice Formula.

You know what also bugs me? Diaper advertising! I saw one ad in a parenting magazine recently making the ludicrous claim that their diaper will make your baby feel like he/she’s in the womb again! Being a first time parent, I remember being so torn over what diaper to choose, and when I switched a budget diaper from a premium type, I felt like I was letting down my son. And for goodness sake, it’s just something he wears for an hour or two, poops on, and then gets thrown out! Advertisers sure know how to pull on your heart strings!

Oh I can totally relate. I hate advertizing hype! I’ve got four children and thankfully I have been able to nurse them all but my littlest is having milk protein problems now and I can understand the frustration. I don’t know if you’ve tried it but probiotics in the bottle have helped her digestion greatly. You need to look around for a milk free type but even the milk based one I started out with helps aid absorpsion enough to be worth it for my littlest. Just a thought

Thanks for the info Jessie! I just recently heard about probiotics for babies, so that is something I will keep in mind for next time. My little one is almost one now, and seems to be doing OK with milk-based products at this point. I feel like if I had more support/information from very early on I maybe could have made breastfeeding work, but he is absolutely thriving, so I’m not going to worry too much. I will definitely give it another try when we have our next one, and hopefully I’ll be better equipped to deal with any complications next time around!

I’m sure that there is some validity in using name brand over store brand for babies who have shown an extreme sensitivity to formula, and are on ‘special’ formulas, like A.R. or soy based. But for kids who prove they have very little or no sensitivity like mine, using the store brand is a no brainer! i use Member’s Mark, and it is so nice to be able to buy a 3 lb can for 20 bucks. Not only do I know I am giving my son formula just as nutritious as everything else, but I also know I’m not breaking the bank in the process.

Thanks for your comment, Mary. Yes, I agree–if your baby shows no adverse reaction to the generic formula then it is a great opportunity to save some serious money. If my son had been able to tolerate it without a problem, I wouldn’t have thought twice about using it. I buy some store brand groceries, and use generic medicines. I see nothing inherently wrong with store brands, but I have to admit that I will not test generic formula on my next child (I’m hoping I will be able to breastfeed anyway).

My only goal when I wrote this article was to make sure that parents realize that store brand formulas are similar to their name-brand counterparts, but not the same. At the time I was seeing misleading advertisements in baby magazines and elsewhere that stated the only difference was the price; I felt extremely betrayed when I learned the truth the hard way. Thankfully the advertising seems to have changed a bit. However, PBM Products has recently been paying bloggers to disseminate positive information about their company, which I do not respect. Parents need to be given all the facts so they can make decisions on their own.

I want to start off this comment by saying that I do work with PBM as a Social Media Advocate… I came across your post in my google alerts, and was really curious from your title. I have to say… I am very sorry your baby had problems with the Parent’s Choice formula. You are very correct in saying that Same Nutritional Value does not necessarily equal Same Ingredients, and that parents should always do their research.
I am a mom of twin girls, and we did do our research before making the switch to Parent’s Choice. Fortunately, my girls didn’t need the gentle formulas, and we were able to make the switch to the Parent’s Choice Lipil formula without any ill effects. In fact, they did very well on that formula. Based on my personal research, and experience with the product, and the experiences of friends who’ve also made the switch, I’ve never had an issue being an advocate for their product.
I completely agree that not every formula is for every baby, based on the varying ingredients… and that every parent should do their due diligence and research everything.
ParentsChoiceFormula.com does offer free samples from time to time, in case parents are interested in trying the formula rather than buying a whole can and feeling like they wasted their money in the case that it isn’t right for their baby.

Jen
We had exactly the opposite happen with my grandson. We had him on soy from the time my daughter could no longer breastfeed, a name brand. He was constipated, gassy and hurting. He is also lactose intolerant. We switched on advice of our pediatrician to Parents Choice Sensitive which is lactose free. Our Walmarts in this area cannot seem to keep it on the shelves so we buy it at least 4 cans at a time. When he turns 1 we will switch to Lactaid whole milk. Just wanted you to know that our experience was the opposite of yours. Every baby is different.

Thanks for your comment, Christine! You actually helped prove my point that store brand and brand name formulas are not identical. Apparently in your case there was either something extra or less of something in the store brand formula that suited your grandson’s situation better. I’m glad it worked for him.

Thanks for the honest posts- and the note about why posts are “flagged”. It never occured to me (naiive, I guess) that people affiliated with these companies would stoop so low as to try and sway readers opinions. I like that you have flagged them as suspicious rather than deleting them!

My daughter Layla has had horrible tummy troubles since she was born. i also tried to breastfeed, and b/c of her size (9 lbs. at birth!) i could not proudce enough milk to satisfy her. I also didn’t have enough help and wasn’t able to care for myself, so that probably contributed to my supply. Anywho, Layla has tp use “sensitive” and “gentle” formula as well. She was on Similac Sensitive for Spit-up for her reflux, but was affected in BOTH recalls so i switched to PC Sensitivity. I thought she would be fine, but now she is extremely constipated and in pain. Her doc wants me to switch to the Enfamil Gentle Ease. We’ll see how it goes! She is also on some solids now, so i’m not totally convinced it’s the formula, but it may be. I believe that every baby is different, so she may be reacting to those small differences in formulas. Wish me luck!

Aw, I hope you’re able to get things figured out soon! My sister has gone through the same problems with my nephew. With babies it is so tough to figure out exactly what the problem may be. Sometimes they just grow out of it, and you never really do figure it out. Good luck!

I tried nursing in the hospital, and after 2 days with my 5 lb daughter not getting anything from me, I had the hospital nurse bring me some Similac formula. She was on the ready-to-feed stuff of Similac Advance for probably about 6 months, since her stomach wouldn’t tolerate the consistency of the powdered formulas. When she was starting at a new daycare, at about 7 months old, the daycare would provide formula, but only Parent’s Choice. Since she was older now and her stomach seemed to have settled down a bit, I decided to try switching her over. The first week or so was a bit rough. We were giving her gas drops like crazy because of the way the formula was affecting her. But the doctor said it was normal for a baby to experience discomfort, spit up, gas, and fussiness when switching formulas. So we gave it another week, and she did great! We switched over completely to the Parent’s Choice formula and had no further problems with it. We did have to use the Dr. Brown’s formula pitcher and a mixing wand to get the mixture as smooth as possible, but once it was smooth, she was fine with it. The money we saved was a lifesaver, as my husband lost his job a couple months later!

I wish it would have worked out for you and your baby, but I completely understand that sometimes it just doesn’t. I had so many people giving me grief over buying RTF formula instead of powder when our daughter was little. It was hard to get people to understand that we had tried powder and she couldn’t keep it down. I am definitely with you on the fact that I would rather have my baby eat, and without uncomfortable side affects, even if I have to pay more.

Hi. Thank you for your article. I have been researching this topic to become a more informed consumer. We all want what is best for our baby, and we all know breaatfeeding is best. However, there are plenty of moms out there for whatever reason have to turn to formula. My son was 9 weeks early and had to be tube fed. We used donor milk and once I was able to produce, we used my milk. Unfortunately, we discovered my son was lactose intolerant and we turned to formula. I chose Enfamil Gentlease. Trying to keep up with my son’s voracious appetite was costing us a pretty penny. One day I noticed that the Target brand (Up & Up) had “*compared to the nutrition in Enfamil Gentlease” on the label. I decided to give it a try. I noticed the difference in color and texture. My son took to it fine and we didn’t have any problems with it. I still wanted to do further research on this before I continued on. The FDA regulates all formulas on the market to ensure it contains necessary nutrients and does not have any harmful ingredients. Also, in 2010 PBM filed a lawsuit against Mead Johnson due to false advertising. Mead Johnson sent out fliers to state that store-brand formula was inferior to Enfamil. PBM won the case because they proved that while their ingredients were not identical, they were mostly similar to Enfamil. Thus, the court allowed PBM to keep the “compare to” on the label and that PBM’s formula was not inferior to Mead Johnson’s Enfamil. PBM can afford a cheaper product because of the lack of advertising and free samples. The reason your pediatrician will give you a sample of a name brand is strictly to do with money. Our pediatrician said that the two were practically the same. While for some children, such as yours, the store brand doesn’t work for them. For others, it works just fine. Both are good choices. It just depends on what works for you and your family.

Thank you soo much for this article/blog. I just switched from Enfamil Gentle ease because we shop at SAMs and those prices right next to each other always taunt me! Almost half the price. I researched it first of course but was still confused about how if they were so similar, why is the price so different. Thank you for clearing that up. We are on day one and so far my 5 month old seems to tolerate it with no problems, but I will not hesitate to go back at te first sign of discomfort. I just really appreciate all the non biased info I receive here. I didn’t feel like I was being sold one way or another.

Thank you, Kristin! Some people seem to have the idea that the cheaper brands are trying to help them. But you’re totally right–both name brand and generic brand companies are in it to make money. I’m glad my article helped, and I’m happy to hear that the store brand is working for you so far!

Thank you Jen for posting this.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Parents need to do their research before switching formulas.
I have 3 kids. My son was breastfed for a while and when we switched him to formula he didn’t do well with Parent’s Choice, Like your child, mine was very colic and was not easy finding a formula that he did well with. Luckily he thrived with Target’s brand.
I just had twin girls and they didn’t do so well with breastfeeding but they are doing well with Parent’s choice formula.
Every child is different and every parents should invest all their time in doing what’s best to their individual child.
I appreciate your honesty.

Thank you for your post!! We have a sensitive tummy here and just tried 24 hours of simply right formula from similac. I thought the fussy clinginess was slowly errupting because our daughter hasn’t been able to settle long to get good sleep. After an episode of crying tonight I started to think it was the formula switch. Thank god for 24 hour Walgreen’s!! We stopped the simply right. Hoping to see our happy baby again soon! Granted– it could very well not be the formula….but my money is in that jar! Thanks again!

My daughter had constipation problems when switching from similac advance to sensitive . She would go 5days without bm. Pedi told me to every now and then add 0.5 oz extra of water to her bottle to dilute the formula. Now she is fine. I switched to walmart brand sensitive formula and I do the same thing within the 0.5 oz and stool is issue is same as in similac sensitive.

I have two children, both were breastfed for 8 weeks, but low supply made us switch to formula. With both children, we tried a sample can first. We realized that specific type was not going to work for us. My first needed gentle formula. Our doctor gave us a sample of Enfamil Gentlease and our baby did better. After several months of buying the crazy expensive formula, we got the go-ahead to try the Sam’s brand gentle formula. We gave it a couple weeks, but our son’s constipation returned. So, we switched back to Enfamil Gentlease. With our second child, we again tried a sample (Similac Advance). She needed a gentle formula too. So, this time we bought the Sam’s brand gentle first. She is doing fine on it. I did have some ready made bottles of Enfamil Gentlease, which in a pinch tried to give to her. She wouldn’t drink it. Even at 3 months, she was spitting it out and pushing the bottle away. Every child is different. I understand where you are coming from. You needed a formula that would help your baby. But, there are parents on both sides. Please do not make parents feel they are not giving their baby a quality product because they are not using a name brand formula.

I came across this article because I had just bought my reflux son babies r us soy formuLa. After each bottle (I tried) two, he choked, cried and forcibly vomited. So bad that after 2 ounces of one I dumped it and made a new bottle with the enfamil soy backup I keep in the diaper bag. He ate it no problem. I read above someone’s doctor said it takes two weeks to switch with some discomfort expected. I just can’t do it. Is rather spend the extra then see my baby so misrable just from trying to eat

Thanks for reading, Courtney. I felt the same way — I wasn’t going to put my son through that horrible suffering for two weeks while he maybe “adjusted”. Formula costs are a real burden, but fortunately it’s only for a year.

Your baby can experience constipation from switching formulas period not just from store brand my daughter was constipated from switching from nutramigen to Similac sensitive which was doctors orders that she didn’t need the nutramigen anymore But she can switch between Similac and parents choice just fine. And you wanna talk buying an expensive formula try being to by nutramigen with enflora lgg

Wow, that’s a big leap to assume ALL store brands are bad because your baby didn’t like the ONLY one you tried. Switching from one formula to ANY other formula can cause these same issues. It has nothing to do with whether its a generic or name brand.

Not really. Perrigo Nutritionals makes the majority of store brands, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Toys R Us, Kroger, Target, Sam’s Club and Whole Foods. Back when I purchased their product, their ads said “The only difference is the price.” They lied, and my baby got hurt. Forgive me for holding a grudge.

I wanted to breast feed too, but wasn’t able. I had gestational diabetes and when my son was born (via c-section) his sugar was low and my colostrum wasn’t enough to bring it up to where it needed to be. So, we had to give him formula through a syringe. He was already spitting up a lot because where he was born c -section he didn’t get his amniotic fluid squeezed out like vaginally born babies and I felt like he was suckino air through the syringe and making it worse. So, I gave him a bottle. Big mistake. He got nipple confusion. I tried pumping but eventually my milk dried up. We give him simply right sensitivity from sams club because it’s so cheap, and 3 ver since then he has had really dry hard stools and a lot of pain trying to have a bm. Now the dr. Diagnosed him with acid reflux and he is on zantac. Zantax constipates, so now he is going days without a bm. Took him to childrens….nothing. so out pediatrician switched him to a new enfamil formula called reguline with 2 prebiotics in it. It really helped for the first day but then he had explosive diarrhea which led to bad diaper rash. So we are back to square one. We have an appointment at the GI specialist monday.

I’m so sorry you’re going through all that. I know it’s so hard to see your baby suffer and not know exactly what to do. It’s very expensive, but you may want to ask about hypoallergenic formula (such as Nutramigen). That’s what I ended up having to use for both of my boys. I hope you’re able to get some answers and find something that works soon!

Thank you so much for putting your experience out there! My first and second child both needed to be on soy formula. For our first we only used Simliac and started out with Similac for the second. I wanted to try to cut costs so after researching and only finding everything saying they are basically the same I decided to switch him to the Walmart brand. Before switching he was sleeping for a 9 hour stretch, after switching he was up every 1-2 hours crying. He was also much more fussy during the day. After a month I decided it must be the formula so I did some more research and found your article. We switched him back to Similac the next day and he is back to being our happy baby sleeping up to a 9 hour stretch at night.

First of all every baby is different. The labeling is NOT misleading. My child was constipated on Enfamil gentlease and is not abymore now that he is on parents choice gentle. It sounds like you didn’t mix the two formulas first when introducing the new formula. I kade that mistake when trying similac. I find your article very biased.

I had the same problem. I couldn’t breastfeed my first. I tried with the second, and the lactation consultants informed me that I am one of the few who can’t. Also, my first had reflux, and my second has protein sensitivities. With my second, we can only find one formula that works for her. It’s hypoallergenic, expensive (and not covered by my insurance), and there is no generic. Soon, I get to try and switch my DD to regular formula. I will probably stick with the same brand (Similac) because my first child reacted poorly to generic formula. I’m sure it works great for some but not so much for kids with sensitive stomachs.

I was in SAMs and had their store brand formula in my cart. I googled infant formula recalls and up popped your website. Really felt like it was a God send. I’ve breast fed for 8 months and started my baby on similac. Wanted something cheaper, but as with anything sometimes you get why you pay for. The consistency of store brand formula is different. Wether anyone wants to address that or not!! So thankful for your website. It helped me so much today????????

This article was very helpful. I may try switching to Target brand as I use Enfamil, but as all others above…won’t hesitate to switch back. Again this was so helpful to figure out which formulas really compare most equally.

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